London Ontario Courthouse Ghost

Well, I'm not any kind of expert but I have spent a lot of time hanging around paranormal and ghostcam sites, and I think I can tell you what this is.

No flash was used in these pictures and they were taken at night, which results in a long exposure (i. e. the camera's shutter is open for a long time to get enough light to create the image). Someone(s) walked into/through the frame while the shutter was open, creating what's called a 'motion blur.' These images can be quite freaky, and the figure appears to be partially see-through because the camera was seeing what's behind the figure for part of the exposure. Motion blur also causes distortion because of the movement of the subject.

It looks to me like the pictures are of 2 or 3 different people, one of them does appear to be walking a dog.

Here are a few other examples of motion blur and how it makes people/things appear 'ghostly.'

How to Avoid Motion Blur

Motion Blur "Ghost"

Ghost Crossing

Swing Dance Motion Blur

the pictures are the first of London ghosts I live here and I think they are very cool

Lol...a "very professional fake", "worth investigating!", "fascinating!". Talk about desperate to believe! The reason the figure looks translucent in places is that the shutter speed was long enough it moved on so light from behind had a chance to reach the lens as well. And the shapes are unusual looking because you see party of the body in different places at different times. This sort of thing happens all the time if you're messing around with manual settings, it's just bad photography, absolutely zero mystery here.

I assume whomever's mom was acting in good faith, but she must have known there was a real person there when she was taking all these shots. Kind of sad that someone would use the opportunity to try and get people riled up for a little attention.

I agree with the earlier posting about night photography. If you take photos without a flash, which these are, the exposure has to be set for longer than 1/60th of a second, which is the standard exposure time the average automatic camera takes at "daytime room lighting" without the need of a tripod. At night, cameras need to have longer exposure times to allow the enough light to generate an image. Without a tripod, night images such as this wall and sidewalk are blurry because the photographer cannot stay steady enough throughout the required exposure time. This is where the ghosting comes in. A walking person does not occupy the same space throughout the required shot time. Some of the light reflected in the exposure comprises of the body part that was there, as well as the background. That's why their silhouette image is stronger in the centre than at the edges. That's all it is; any photographer can confirm this. Remember Occam's Razor: the simplest explanation is often the most accurate one.

I agree with the long-exposure idea. I don't believe this is a ghost.

...also because I live in London and have seen countless photos from around the courthouse area and I've never seen anything so obvious as that.

I'm not saying a ghostly figure couldn't be caught on film there... but after seeing so many attempts, I find it hard to believe that this figure was captured on camera!

[edit on 10/1/09 by rubix]